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:Inspiration

Quite possibly my favourite Steve Jobs video. Perhaps only his Stanford speech stands above it. The word visionary gets tossed around lightly these days but there is no denying Jobs’ as the genuine article. He gave this speech 4 years before the first Macintosh computer was even launched, yet so much of what he talks about still applies to the modern Apple of today. At a time when computing power was doubling exponentially every year, IBM was intently focused on harnessing that power to broaden the computer’s functionality. In contrast, Jobs was primarily interested in using that power to make the computer easier to use. Think different, indeed.

Inspiration can come from just about anywhere provided your eyes, ears and mind are open to it. Where do you go, what do you do to get inspiration for your work? The internet is certainly a great place to go looking for inspiration. Whether it is a blog post, a graphic treatment, a video or an entire web site experience, the internet is a massive potpourri of creativity waiting to be discovered and be inspired by. However, it’s also easy to get lost in the abyss of the virtual world, and the physical world can get ignored or pushed to the periphery. Going for a walk (urban or nature), listening, touching and smelling our environment can often provide the impetus for a new creative path or a creative solution to a business problem.

The advertising industry whose lifeblood depends on the constant flow of creative ideas can occasionally be a great reservoir for inspiration. Here is an old (in web time) favourite video from 2004-05’ish. It’s a video done by the founder and producer of the creative agency – Belief. One of the best points made in this video is when they say that ‘design is an artform, not a job – it’s really a lifestyle’. The same can be said for being an entrepreneur – it’s not just a job (how many entrepreneurs work 9 to 5?) it’s most definitely a lifestyle where your passion, creativity, risk tolerance and acumen are tested daily and like the video mentions, you need to immerse yourself in your work, constantly be living with it and everywhere you go, everything you see, be influenced by it.

Test your beliefs, what is important to you, what do you believe so firmly in that you can’t wait to make it happen. Again, while this video is about advertising, many of the broad points they make can apply to just about any industry or profession. The video is called ‘Pollinate – Chain Reaction’ and it’s all about creativity, inspiration and how to find it.

Oh to be Steve Jobs. Whether you love him, hate him or ignore him (pretty hard to do these days) you will be hard-pressed to find a day that compares to the one Steve Jobs will experience today in business.

Wayne Gretzky said the best and most memorable game he played was in the 1987 Canada Cup, when Canada beat the Soviet Union in Game 2 and Gretz had 5 assists in that game. I’m guessing, when/if Steve Jobs retires, June 29th, 2007 is likely to be his best, most memorable day in business.

Yes, today is the launch of the much-anticipated Apple iPhone, and by all accounts we are likely to witness the most successful product launch in Apple’s history. That alone would make June 29th a pretty special day in Steve’s books. But the iPhone is not the only launch for Steve Jobs today. Steve’s ‘other gig’, as the largest shareholder in Disney/Pixar, is also launching their big summer animation blockbuster ‘Ratatouille‘ today.

Just pause for a moment and think about this. A major Hollywood blockbuster – likely to do $100 million in opening weekend business, combined with a surefire successful electronics product launch that will catapult Apple into a massive market and likely to yield millions, and eventually billions in annual sales and perhaps change communications forever – both launches for companies he founded.